Children
by Melkor44
Summary: An alternate ending to "Child," where Ahsoka agrees to become Darth Vader's apprentice instead of denying him. (Oneshot, ROTS AU.)


"Fine." The Togruta woman relents, and her former master smiles. This one is genuine, the kind of smile that she remembers. "But I will not learn the power of the Sith."

"I never asked for you to learn how to wield your passion, Ahsoka. Whether or not you choose to do so is up to you, and you alone."

The young Vader hugs her, this girl who showed him how to be a better teacher and a better person, and his grip is outmatched by her own. She holds on to him, eyes closed, knowing that she doesn't have to run anymore. No longer will he need to hide, in the fear that he might reach her. While he was different from when they had last crossed paths, far more violent and cruel in his nature, she knew that she was safe with him. He would not hurt her; he'd said himself that he would adopt her as his daughter and claim her as his heir. No matter how far-gone he might be from the Light Side of the Force, he was a man of his word...whether as Anakin Skywalker or as Darth Vader, he would do what he said he would.

The embrace seems to last for an eternity, and yet not long enough.

"We need to go to Mustafar." Vader says. "Come, daughter."

And she goes with him, because he's the only thing she's ever really wanted: family. Once again they are master and apprentice, but no longer are they Jedi Knight Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Forever after, in public, they are the masters of the Force. Darth Vader, a Sith Lord, Chosen One, and his daughter: Jedi Knight Skywalker.

The ship to Mustafar is Vader's own. It's fast, incredibly so, and Ahsoka begins asking questions as they cruise through hyperspace. Vader doesn't answer all of them, but that's fine with her; he likes to focus when he's piloting, or tinkering with machines. It sometimes made her wonder why, on the mission where she went undercover as a podracer, he didn't go instead. He was a natural ace, and she'd learned on her second trip to Tatooine that he'd won his freedom in a podrace.

He seemed to welcome questions about his allegiance, however, and so she asked those most of all.

"What is the Sith Code?"

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

"What made you become a Sith?"

"Destiny. I was fated to bring balance to the Force, not destroy half of it. There are two Sith Lords now, and two Jedi Masters...though I will kill Palpatine with my own hands, if necessary. This mission to Mustafar is to eliminate the Separatists so that Palpatine can create a true Empire, but I can sense that something is wrong. Do you know what it is?"

"It's a trap." She replies. "The Separatists aren't the only ones waiting for you. There's an ambush!"

"That would be the most likely case. I was unsure of whether or not I would be able to succeed in avoiding it without you, but I know you'll be able to help me."

"Of course, master."

* * *

Their arrival on Mustafar is punctuated by Separatist lords and ladies coming out to greet them, the greatest of whom is none other than Viceroy Nute Gunray himself. "Lord Vader, we welcome you! The Emperor sent word ahead of your arrival, saying that you had business to take care of before you came for us. How are you?"

"I am well." He responds, a cold smirk on his face that no longer looks out of place with his yellowed eyes and paled skin. "The nature of my business was rather personal, but you may rest easy. May I introduce my own apprentice, and adopted daughter, Ahsoka?"

She greets them all politely, a softer smile on her face than the one plastered to her master's. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The Separatists aren't expecting what comes next, though there is no way for them to avoid it. Ahsoka flips ahead of them, cutting them off from running into the building, while Vader bows his head in the slightest degree; as they begin walking forward, none of them suspect anything. Only when the telltale hum of a lightsaber is heard to they turn around to face Vader's unadulterated fury, exposing their backs to the doom dealt out by his daughter's dual blades. In moments, the only one who is left is the Viceroy...who Vader levitates over the lava pit, slowly choking him to death.

"For your crimes against the Galactic Republic, and the Galactic Empire, you are charged. Normally, that would constitute a quick and painless execution."

He sees the fear in the Viceroy's eyes, and knows that his victory is completely and utterly complete.

"But I exonerate you of those crimes. I will instead charge you with your attempted murder of my wife, fourteen and a half years ago, on Naboo. Perhaps you know her?" He pauses, allowing the words to sink in and giving Gunray a few moments to think of the battle for Naboo. "My wife is Queen Amidala, Viceroy. And maybe you know me, too: I was the boy who deactivated your droids from the space station."

Ah, there it is. The recognition that so often comes when it's too late to do anything against one of your most hated enemies. The Viceroy's emotions change quickly, following the path that Vader knows far too well, and the Sith Lord decides to mock his foe in the Separatist's last moments.

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to..."

He breathes the last word as the Viceroy falls past him, quickly and quietly. "...suffering."

He barely even sees the splash that the leader of the Separatists makes in the lava, and the final screams of the once-powerful alien are heard as no more than whispers. Vader stands there for a long time, looking first to the lava and then to the sky, contemplating his path and his choices in life. His daughter moves to stand beside him, and he can't find it in himself to tell her that he needs to be alone for his private reflections; perhaps, just once, he'll indulge in her company.

The next day, Ahsoka sees a ship coming in...and it's one that Vader recognizes very well. He rushes out to meet it, and throws his arms around Padmé with unbridled joy when he sees her.

"Why did you come?"

"I was worried. Anakin, Obi-Wan told me terrible things. He said that you-" She's stopped when he places a finger on her lips, and he holds her tighter. He never wants to let go of her.

"I've been chasing after my old Padawan, Padmé. With her, and perhaps with Obi-Wan as well, I can overthrow Palpatine. We can be together, you and I, until the ends of time...and I realized something else, thanks to that: I don't need to be afraid anymore. Not of your death, or for our child, or myself. I have the power to protect us all, and we can restore peace when I destroy the Emperor. I'm begging you, Padmé..."

There is horror in her eyes, and he fears despite his words. She speaks again, and he forces himself to listen. "You're going down a path I can't follow, Anakin, and it's breaking my heart! Come back to me, please, I'm begging you! We can go back to Naboo, and raise our child there, and...and..."

"It's two." Vader says, sensing something inside of his wife's belly. "I can't believe that I didn't sense it before now, but there's two of them. One is a boy, and the other is a girl."

Despite her pain and anguish, Padmé manages a smile. "Does that mean that you'll come with me?"

"Yes, my love. Anything, and everything, for you. You should go there now, and wait for me. I'll get rid of Palpatine, and after that I'll be happy to live in peace with you."

It's not what she wants, entirely, but it'll have to do; as she turns around, however, she sees a sight that terrifies her. It's not because of who it is, but what his intentions are, and she feels truly afraid. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator, Jedi Master and teacher of the man once known as Anakin Skywalker. He has a lightsaber in his hand, though it's not ignited yet, and Padmé clutches her husband's robe in shock. "I didn't know he was there! I promise, Anakin!"

"She's right. I slipped aboard her ship when she wasn't looking, because I knew she would come to find you. What do you have to say for yourself, Anakin?"

Ahsoka appears then, rushing to attack the teacher of her teacher, but Vader's outstretched hand holds her back.

"I would rather be civil, daughter, than violent. Please restrain yourself."

"Yes, master." She replies, as two sets of eyes stare at Darth Vader in confusion.

"Anakin, what's this?"

"I adopted her." He declares boldly, knowing that it will shock both of them into some semblance of silence. "She left the Order with a grudge, and I made my power play by hunting her down. She is my daughter and my apprentice, and my heir. Eldest of my children, sibling to her brother and sister: Ahsoka Skywalker."

"Saving one does not excuse you for the slaughter of many, Anakin. What can you give in your defense for the deaths of the younglings? Their blood is on your hands!" Obi-Wan declares, in a moment of rage.

"Hardly." Vader replies. "I manipulated the security records to make Palpatine think that I killed them, and I'm sorry that you had to see that as well. The truth is that all of those were flash-clones, meant to stay just long enough for me to have everyone convinced of their deaths. The children are safe and secure, in a location that Palpatine doesn't know; I fully intend to keep it that way."

A ball is tossed, that the Jedi Master catches with the Force, and Obi-Wan pushes a button to reveal that it's a map of a system that he's never seen before in his life..

"They're on the fifth planet of the Golgar system, Master Obi-Wan...so I'll leave them in your care. I know that they'll be safe with you. I will contact you when it's safe to return to Coruscant."

"So then, all of this has been-"

"A giant and clever ploy, yes. Palpatine trusts me too much. While I did kill the Jedi Knights, the Masters and the younglings are safe."

Obi-Wan bows his head in sorrow, regretting that the lives of so many Jedi had to be slain, but he will grieve for them later. He returns to the ship, and Padmé looks at her husband with no small amount of hurt in her eyes. "Don't think that the subject of _your _daughter isn't over, Anakin...Ahsoka will never be my child."

"I never asked for that to happen, my love. I never had a father, but that won't be repeated with my children. Ahsoka is too much like me, wild and free, for me to give up. She left the Order while her training was incomplete, and I care for her like I would for a daughter. She will make a good sister for our children, love, just wait and see."

Padmé huffs, though she can't resist giving him one last kiss on his cheek, before she goes to the ship. She and Obi-Wan go to Polis Massa, where she will give birth, but her husband and his daughter have one final journey to make before they can join her. Once the former Senator's ship is out of sight, Vader takes out his communicator and has his hologram projected to Darth Sidious.

"It is done, master."

"And the girl?"

"With me, master. Unfortunately, my ship suffered damage and we cannot leave." The lie was quick, smooth, and unnoticeable, and Vader patted himself on the back for it.

"I was already on my way personally, Lord Vader, but thank you for notifying me."

"Yes, master."

* * *

Sidious' first warning should have been when a defense turret shot down his craft, but Vader acknowledged it as his apprentice's failure to shut down the system in time for his master's arrival; it had, in fact, been Vader himself who had taken out both engines and the communication antenna on the elder man's landing craft.

"Truly, master, I apologize. I should have done it instead."

"Yes...take it as a learning experience, Lord Vader. You may find that apprentices often need to be led slowly and carefully, because they do not always see things the way that you do. You have more experience, and should therefore use it."

"Master, would that not mean that she would never grow as a wielder of the Force?"

"That is what her training is for, so that she can grow to a level where she might go with you. Not all of us are so lucky as you, Lord Vader, to have been thrust into a trial by fire and come out safely."

"Yes, master."

He bows his head once more, and that should have been Sidious' second alert that something was very wrong; Vader never broke eye contact with his master unless he was bowing or kneeling. The Dark Lord's eyes flick over to his Togruta apprentice, and Ahsoka leaps from behind Darth Sidious...she doesn't activate her lightsabers until she's right above him, falling, and the Sith Lord has no time to utilize the Force before a pair of green energy blades are shoved through his forehead and mouth.

"Well, that was anti-climactic."

"That is a good thing, daughter. As powerful as I am, I don't know that I would have been able to protect you from Palpatine's hatred."

They leave in Vader's ship, heading to Polis Massa to see his children just as they are being born. Senator Organa is there, as well as Yoda and Obi-Wan, and Vader steps inside the room so that he might be with his wife.

"Anakin..." She grips his hand with all the force she can, and he smiles.

"The first one's a boy." Obi-Wan tells them, giving the child to his father to hold so that Padmé might focus on birthing her daughter.

"Luke." The pair say simultaneously, surprising themselves with their immediate reactions.

A few minutes later, more wailing filled the room. "This one's a girl."

She was passed to her mother, who smiled. Once again, she speaks in tandem with Vader. "Leia."

Padmé sleeps, needing the rest it provides to her, leaving her husband with two Jedi Masters and his three children; Senator Organa had gone back to Alderaan after congratulating his friends on the birth of their children.

"To the Dark Side fallen, you have, though not evil you are. Convey a sense of sorrow your actions do, and love."

"I was brought to the Sith because I wanted to save Padmé. I told you of my death-visions, Master Yoda. Do you remember? They were of her, and of my children. I have brought balance to the Force, as well, because I now understand both sides. The Dark Side is not evil, but many who use it become twisted and made evil because of it. It's a difference of philosophy."

"How can you say that, Anakin? That doesn't make sense!"

"...know what you speak of, young Skywalker, I do. There was I when the Republic fell, but formed did I see it as well. Made it was in the hope of a better future, and after a long war with the Sith it did come. Not always evil the Sith were. Darth Plagueis my teacher was, before corrupted he became, and teach me of the Dark Side he did. To the Dark Side he turned out of fear for his family, and powerful it made him become. Ended his life was, though pain it made me feel to do it, because power did he fall in love with."

The answers brought on by Yoda's speech only prompted more questions, but the ancient Jedi Master chose to leave. Obi-Wan followed his mentor, leaving Anakin alone with his son, daughter, apprentice, and sleeping wife.

He had fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, he thought to himself, and knew that life was likely to be boring from that point onward. Somehow, though, the thought didn't bother him; he'd never been not-busy, and even the time he'd spent with Padmé on Naboo had technically been a mission.

Yes, he decided, he'd seen enough action for one lifetime. Now it was time for him to take his well-earned vacation, for the rest of his life, and be at peace...or as much peace as he could get, being the savior of the Republic and the man who brought balance to the Force. And being married to the one and only Padmé Amidala; come to think of it, maybe peace wouldn't be so peaceful after all, but that was fine too. After all, what was life without a little bit of adventure?

One thing was certain in his mind about that: he and his trio of children certainly wouldn't be able to find out.


End file.
